Dyslexic Thinking: the next in-demand skill.

Dyslexic Thinking — characterized by creative, analytical and agile problem-solving — is an essential skill set for the AI era. This article provides employers with insight on how to build a more equitable workplace that attracts, nurtures and retains people who have the skills today’s workplace demands. Discover how to move beyond historical bias to build a resilient, adaptable workforce by prioritizing potential and unique cognitive strengths over rigid, traditional credentials.

Employers around the globe, regardless of size or industry, are all facing a similar struggle: finding talent with the right skills to achieve their key priorities. Whether looking for tech-focused skills like AI, cloud computing and data science, or more traditional areas like accounting and customer service, a handful of the most in-demand skills continue to be the biggest need for employers today.

The challenge for employers is that the greater the demand for a skill, the harder it is to find qualified talent. Doing so can take a great investment of time and resources, but without a viable way to get people with those skills — or at least those with the potential to learn them — the company will struggle to remain competitive. Just consider the rapidly growing field of AI and how it can be used across nearly all job types. While AI development skills are in high demand, employers are also increasingly seeking talent who understand how to best use AI, regardless of their role.

With more companies tapping into the same shrinking talent pools, it’s time to think outside the box. One way to do that is to actively seek talent with a different skill set, yet one that’s transferable and adjacent to many of today’s most in-demand skills: Dyslexic Thinking.

the benefits of Dyslexic Thinking

Made by Dyslexia estimates that Dyslexic Thinking is worth $4.5 trillion dollars to the global economy. At the same time, $3.2 trillion dollars still remains untapped, and only 30% of dyslexic thinkers feel empowered at work. How can employers better attract, retain and develop people with Dyslexic Thinking to fill the skills gaps they currently face?

Well, dyslexic thinkers are often able to quickly learn new skills and adapt to new technology. In fact, dyslexic thinkers are shown to encompass many of the traits required for today’s most in-demand skills. Consider what the World Economic Forum says are the top-five most sought after traits for employees today:

• Creative thinking

• Analytical thinking

• Technological literacy

• Curiosity and lifelong learning

• Resilience, flexibility and agility

Dyslexic thinkers often score highly in these areas, making them a high-potential talent group for organizations looking to prioritize innovation, adaptability and problem-solving at scale. And with these traits, like analytical thinking and technological literacy, being crucial to areas of AI and other tech-focused fields, it becomes easy to see how dyslexic thinkers, with some training and development, can be called upon to assume those hard-to-fill roles.

Leveraging the strengths to address skills gaps also aligns with another growing trend. More organizations are focusing on skills-based transformation, in which talent is hired or developed based on their skills and potential, rather than their educational backgrounds or professional experience. Fortunately, many dyslexic thinkers are able to learn quickly and pick up new skills, even if they don’t have previous experience or training in them.

an untapped talent source

Despite potential to learn new skills easily and fill key gaps, dyslexic thinkers remain an untapped talent source. That’s mainly because most employers don’t yet actively seek Dyslexic Thinking as a core skill their business needs.

Long-held stigmas around dyslexia remain, and negative connotations can prevent businesses from embracing the potential of dyslexic thinkers. At the same time, many dyslexic thinkers are hesitant to promote what is often considered a neurological condition rather than a useful skill.

Traditional hiring assessments and job descriptions often target well-rounded candidates who perform consistently across all skill areas. But that’s not always how most high-performing, innovative thinkers work. Many dyslexic thinkers have what’s called a “spiky profile.” This means they may struggle with certain traditional tasks, such as spelling, rote memorization or text-heavy tasks, but may excel in high-value cognitive abilities that drive business success.  

Fortunately, progress is being made in both raising awareness of the potential of Dyslexic Thinking, and empowering dyslexic thinkers to take pride in themselves. LinkedIn added Dyslexic Thinking as a skill talent can include in their profiles, for example. Not only does this empower dyslexic thinkers to promote their inherent value, but it also enables employers to actively search for talent with this skill. Meanwhile, some organizations are adding Dyslexic Thinking as a skill in their internal HR systems to facilitate internal mobility. 

At the same time, AI can help close the gap when it comes to the areas that can be challenging for dyslexic thinkers, like reading, spelling and grammar. By leveraging AI to facilitate these tasks, by summarizing long pieces of text and helping them write emails, they can focus more on using their unique skills to help their organizations succeed.

how to recruit dyslexic thinkers

Changing mindsets to embrace Dyslexic Thinking as a way to acquire talent with the most in-demand skills is the first step. The next challenge lies in actively recruiting such talent. And as the benefits of Dyslexic Thinking continue to become better known, it’s likely that competition for dyslexic thinkers will grow as well. Get a head start by implementing best practices for each stage of the hiring process to welcome dyslexic thinkers, as presented in the Hiring Dyslexic Thinking Talent course via the University of Dyslexic Thinking and in Randstad Enterprise’s Dyslexic Thinking workplace guide.

• Attraction

• Application

• Screening

• Interviewing

• Assessment and testing

• Decision-making and onboarding
  
  

💡benchmark your organization

Evaluate your current practices across the entire employee life cycle and receive a complimentary personalized maturity profile with actionable recommendations.

> try the Dyslexic Thinking navigator

maintaining a dyslexia-friendly workplace

Consider these additional strategies to not only make sure you hire people with Dyslexic Thinking skills, but create an environment in which they can grow and thrive.

1. Create a community of dyslexic thinkers.
   Start an employee resource group focused on dyslexia to show external candidates that the company is committed to fostering a community of dyslexic thinkers, their allies and anyone who wants to learn more, who can support each other, share their successes and have the confidence to celebrate their unique skills.
   
   

2. Evangelize with internal champions.
   Embracing the potential of dyslexic thinkers should start at the top, so leadership should play a key role in setting the tone. The most passionate internal champions are often those who are dyslexic thinkers themselves or have family members who are. This will help to build a personal connection with candidates and dyslexic thinkers already in the organization.
   
   

3. Develop a maturity index to gauge progress.
   To ensure you continually attract dyslexic thinkers, assessing your current recruitment practices is key. By measuring against industry best practices, you can see what the company is doing right and uncover opportunities to improve how you attract, assess and onboard dyslexic thinkers. By establishing a clear starting point, you can set measurable goals and make the necessary improvements to create a workplace in which dyslexic thinkers can thrive. 

embrace Dyslexic Thinking today

With more companies competing to hire from an ever-shrinking talent pool, now’s the time to consider how dyslexic thinkers can fill those gaps. Recognizing how the inherent strengths of dyslexic thinkers can empower them to learn new things quickly and fill key gaps is a start. But to truly benefit from the power of Dyslexic Thinking, you have to create a culture that’s welcoming at every step of the talent journey, from when they first see the job description, through to ongoing training and development.

Such environments will not only help to attract them, but showing the company’s commitment to helping them achieve their potential and thrive will also improve retention and engagement. And as the skills companies need the most will continue to change and evolve, having a base of dyslexic thinkers able to quickly adapt and learn those new skills will provide a crucial competitive advantage.

Ready to get started? Evaluate your current processes with the Dyslexic Thinking navigator and explore the Dyslexic Thinking workplace guide for practical steps you can take now.